Confirmed Lineup: As selected
For one of the few times so far this season, the One New Zealand Warriors will line up as selected 1-17 for today’s Anzac Day clash against Gold Coast at Go Media Stadium (4.00pm kick-off; match day partner: New Zealand Defence Force).
Adam Pompey has been confirmed as 18th man with Ali Leiataua 19th man.
Taine Tuaupiki, Edward Kosi and Tanner Stowers-Smith were omitted from the extended bench last night.
Among the team features today, utility Dylan Walker returns from an ankle injury while fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad makes his 100th career appearance.
Walker is set for just his third match of the season after last playing in the round two clash against Melbourne on March 16 but his comeback has been offset by the loss of experienced second rower Kurt Capewell.
The Queenslander played the full 80 minutes and made 43 tackles in Friday night’s loss to St George Illawarra but suffered a throat injury which has seen him ruled out. It’s yet to be confirmed how long he will be sidelined.
In his absence Wellington-raised rookie Jacob Laban, who turned 20 last week, has been brought off the bench to start for the first time. His first three appearances since his debut against South Sydney have been off the interchange.
Set to make his NRL debut from the bench is highly-regarded prop Zyon Maiu’u, also 20, who was originally signed at the same time as Laban in 2021; the pair were also re-signed last November through to the end of the 2026 season.
Maiu’u appeared in all 27 matches for the club’s New South Wales Cup side which went within a win of the grand final last year and has added another five appearances this year.
As well as Maiu’u and Walker, who’ll play his 222nd match on Thursday, the other players listed on the interchange are prop Tom Ale and Paul Roache, who covers hooker and the halves.
Along with Capewell, also out of contention again this week is utility Chanel Harris-Tavita (calf) plus Marata Niukore (foot), Jazz Tevaga (hamstring), Bunty Afoa (hamstring), Luke Metcalf (leg) and Demitric Sifakula (knee).
The game will be a double celebration for Nicoll-Klokstad who, like all his teammates but Shaun Johnson, will experience playing an Anzac Day match at Go Media Stadium for the first time as well as bringing up his 100-game milestone.
He started his NRL career with seven games for the Warriors in 2017 before racking up 66 games for Canberra from 2019-2022.
In his first three outings this season he has averaged a phenomenal 287 metres a game – 263 against South Sydney, 341 against Manly Warringah and 258 against St George Illawarra.
This will be the One New Zealand Warriors’ 15th Anzac Day game and the third to fall on a Thursday after 2013 and 2019; of the previous 14, 13 have been played in Melbourne.
Johnson is the only survivor from either squad from the first Anzac Day match at Go Media Stadium against Gold Coast in 2015, a game the Titans won 38-24.
The two teams will again play for the Zae Wallace Shield, which honours the much-loved Aucklander and former Titans junior who passed away at the age of just 20 in 2019.
Go Media Stadium is sold out for the fourth consecutive match this season, the fifth straight home game sellout including the encounter the Warriors took to Christchurch against Canberra in round three. The club’s two trials in Christchurch and Auckland were also sold out.
The crowd attendances for the first three NRL matches in Auckland have been 24,076, 24,112 and 23,076 with a crowd of 17,249 witnessing the 18-10 win over the Raiders in Christchurch.
